The Best Director

The dining and living room were decorated in an elegant and festive style, with walls adorned with beautiful “double happiness” paper cutouts and concentric knot hangings. Vases filled with fresh white lilies and red roses graced the tables, their reflections complementing each other and filling the air with a fragrant scent. Family and guests sat around three tables, a cacophony of happy voices and laughter. For others, September 28th, a Sunday, might be just an ordinary day; but for Wang Yang and Jessica, both believed it would be a day engraved in their memories for life, for it was the day they were to officially get engaged.

As was customary, the engagement party was hosted by the bride’s family and took place at the Alba residence. Close family members were naturally in full attendance, along with a few dear friends invited to witness this blissful moment. Danny, groomed and bathed only the day before, roamed around with his fluffy fur and butterfly bow tie, seemingly sensing the joy. Joshua, with a new-style DV camera in hand, had the air of a director as he documented each detail of the engagement party.

Through the lens of the DV camera appeared Cathy Alba, pushing a three-tiered cake into the room. Joshua followed her with the camera, laughing, “Now we can see a beautiful woman, the mother of someone’s fiancée and my would-be mother-in-law! She’s bringing out the engagement cake, which means the ceremony is about to start!” He panned the camera to the guests, zooming in on a dark-haired man, laughing again, “This is the groom-to-be, Wang Yang, and that’s my sister Jessica. Enough chit-chat; let’s hear what my dad has to say!”

There stood Wang Yang in a casual yet classic black jacket and slacks, his face radiant, his tall and sturdy physique exuding a rugged charm. Beside him, Jessica was wearing a bright floral dress, her lightly curled brown hair cascading over her shoulders, a subtle makeup highlighting her face, and a happy smile faintly revealing pearly teeth, stealing the show.

They both stood up from their chairs with smiles on their faces, holding hands tightly as they positioned themselves beside the engagement cake, glancing at one another before turning to face their relatives and friends seated before them. White-haired grandparents on both sides, with different skin and hair colors but sharing the same smiles; Joshua with the DV camera, Zachary and Eileen with the digital camera responsible for capturing memories, Roland, and their parents; Mark Alba stood by the right side of the cake.

Looking at his parents and everyone else, Wang Yang suddenly felt a surge of nervousness. He was about to make a lifelong promise once again, this time in front of her and the most important people in their lives—family and closest friends! He unconsciously tightened his grip on Jessica’s hand, a twinge of regret crossing his mind, “Old Wu, if only you were sitting there too, how wonderful that would be?”

“God.” As the moment drew closer, Jessica felt an acute sense of nervousness herself, her heart erratically fluttering with excitement and joy. She was about to officially become his fiancée, soon to be Jessica Mary Wang. She glanced at her grandmother and great-grandmother, then at her mother, as her joyous smile slowly turned blissfully dreamy.

“Today, right now, my daughter is going to be engaged,” Mark Alba said, looking at his daughter without the staid authority of his military past, his dark eyes filled with tenderness. He then looked at Wang Yang, holding his daughter’s hand, and smiled, “I remember seeing Yang for the first time at Jessica’s 17th birthday…” As he spoke, a rush of memories flooded his mind, vaguely recalling something.

A mischievous smile crossed the boy’s face as he said to him while picking up Jessica from school, “Hey, hello, you must be Jessica’s dad. I’m her good friend! I’d like to take her to…” Interrupted by Jessica, who bashfully lowered her head without daring to speak, he snapped at the boy, “Have you been bullying her?” The boy immediately looked taken aback, “Oh no, do I look like someone who would bully her? I protect her. Why are you so fierce?” He replied incredulously, “I’ve always been like this, don’t fool around with my daughter! I’m taking her home now!”

The boy smiled awkwardly and fearfully, stepping back, “Bye, Jessica! Let’s go see a movie next time.”

“In Los Angeles,” added Mark Alba, looking at the tall and mature Wang Yang with a smile, “In San Francisco, when I first saw Yang, he was just a kid. I remember him wanting to ask my daughter out to a movie, it seemed like he was destined to take my daughter off my hands someday.” The family and friends present let out a light chuckle; Wang’s father (Darwin Wang, Wang Dewen) also translated for the parents and in-laws who weren’t very good at English, and the elderly all laughed heartily.

Wang Yang couldn’t help but laugh with amusement; he didn’t remember this incident, but Jessica had mentioned it to him. However, why had he fled in such a hurry back then? Jessica squeezed his hand with a smile; she remembered it well because, by that time, she had almost considered him her boyfriend. He had said excitedly that morning, “Let’s go watch a movie after school.” She had waited all day, both for the movie and for him to meet her father…

But due to her shyness, misunderstandings arose, and she could only return home feeling downcast. The next day, after the explanation, he said, “Your dad is indeed quite fierce, but there’s plenty of time! I know what your dad is going through is called a ‘midlife crisis,’ so we have to take it slowly.” Before they even had a chance to go see a movie together, she moved to Los Angeles.

“Whether in San Francisco or Los Angeles, he was still a boy and my daughter was still a girl, but five years have passed,” Mark Alba observed the two’s clasped hands and their more mature smiles, and a memory echoed in his ears: “Jessica and I are just friends.” “Then take good care of her! Remember, don’t let her get hurt.” “I will.” He said reflectively with a smile, “I watched them fall in love, grow up, and now they are getting engaged.”

Kathy looked at her daughter’s beaming smile, feeling extremely, extremely happy inside. It was the most sincere and purest of smiles; what could make a mother happier than this? She thought nothing could.

She knew how happy her daughter was at that moment. Those childish cries, “Mom, I don’t want to go to Los Angeles, I want to stay here.” “It’s nothing, I just… don’t have any confidence.” Those anguished confessions, “I want to have that baby, he’s so disappointed.” “Mom, will he be bullied in jail? I’m so annoyed!” “I was so mad at him! Haha, he tricked me by saying we were breaking up; I almost didn’t forgive him!” Those joyful shouts, “Lionsgate is going to distribute Yang’s movie!!” “Yang proposed to me! Mom, I said yes!” …

“Our son is getting married,” Rosa Wang said, turning to Wang’s father at her side. Wang Dewen silently nodded with a smile; both of them were filled with a sense of how quickly time had passed, a beautiful sentiment. From a doughy, wailing baby to a mischievous and wild child, then to a teenager always talking about movies and basketball, riding his bike everywhere at full speed.

He started dating and had his first girlfriend, soon declaring, “This was a mistake, she’s not what I want,” and broke up; then he learned guitar, dated a girl in a band, and had a breakup that involved chasing; they thought he was going to marry his new high school girlfriend, Helen, but fate is fate.

“This guy…” Wang’s mother and father looked at their son’s radiant smiling face, and she experienced a poignant but joyous feeling, remembering his defiant words: “Don’t meddle in my affairs; maybe I won’t ever get married or fall in love. I’m gay! You better be prepared for that.” As well as the slightly shy laughter over the phone: “Mom, I have a new girlfriend. Her name’s Jessica, and she’s a beautiful Latina. Just letting you know, I feel like this time it’s different, she might be the one.”

My son, she is the one! Rosa Wang murmured to herself with a smile: “He’s getting married.”

“This is a new union of two families, one Chinese and one Mexican,” Mark Alba looked at the future in-laws gathered around, a mix of white, Asian, and Latin people, and he smiled, “This might be quite rare.”

Such cross-ethnic marriages aren’t uncommon, now in America 7% of marriages are interethnic, and among locally born Chinese males (second generation and beyond), the proportion who marry women of other ethnicities is 52.8% (data from 2006), with the highest proportion being those married to white females, followed by Asians (with Japanese being the highest among them), then Latinos and African Americans. The guests might not be aware of these specific numbers; they simply seldom see such combinations in their everyday lives.

“There have been times when white people have cursed at me, telling us ‘You filthy garbage should go back to Texas, back to Mexico,\'” Mark Alba’s topic suddenly turned serious, and his family maintained puzzled smiles. Cathy clasped her hands together, reflecting on those difficult times with much to contemplate, and Mark Alba continued, “There were also Chinese who cursed at me, calling us ‘old Mex,’ thinking we are all swindlers and scoundrels. And I know that some Mexicans curse this and that.”

Jessica couldn’t help frowning, what was Dad talking about? This was her engagement party! Although she knew her father surely had some kind and beautiful intention, she still felt a bit anxious. Wang Yang, sensing her mood, squeezed her soft hand and gave her a reassuring smile.

“Let me tell you a joke made up by a white person: How do you know when Asians have moved into your neighborhood?” Mark Alba had barely started, and everyone chuckled softly, knowing this to be a classic racist joke. Except for a few friends, everyone was related by marriage, the joke was meant to be harmless, even offering a bit of self-deprecating humor. Mark Alba gave the punchline: “When Mexicans start buying car insurance.”

The joke draws upon two negative racial stereotypes: “Asians are bad drivers” and “Mexicans are dirty and poor.” So, when Asians appear, even the poor Mexicans decide to buy insurance.

“What are all these? Bad things,” said Mark Alba, looking at his impatient daughter with a bit of mischievous affection. This was the speech he’d been preparing for over half a month! But the important part was what came next. Observing the gently smiling faces around him, he said seriously, “If everyone acted on these notions, these prejudices, these hostilities, none of us would be here today! Why has the Lord arranged for us to be here? What has He given us that makes us a family?”

Mark looked at his tenderly smiling wife and, with a growing smile of his own, said, “Kindness, understanding, tolerance, and love. Love doesn’t discriminate based on skin color or race; love can change prejudices, change hostility, change everything. Love brought me and my wife Cathy together until now, and also…”

He turned to look at Jessica and Wang Yang, smiled, and said, “Today my daughter and the person she loves are getting engaged. I believe that they too will do the same, facing whatever difficulties and conflicts they may encounter in their married life ahead, they will understand and tolerate each other, face them together, and solve them together.”

“Yes!” Jessica smiled sweetly, feeling moved and affirmed in her heart, knowing how much she loved him! Wang Yang also nodded earnestly, making a promise, “Mark, we will.”

A burst of warm applause erupted, with Kathy, as well as Wang Yang’s father and mother clapping the hardest. Everyone was moved and happy in their own way; as long as there is genuine love and cherishment between two people, the path of love and marriage will be free of thorns.

“Hey! See that?” Joshua swept the DV camera across everyone’s smiling faces, then turned it on himself, widening his eyes and whispering excitedly, “Wow! My dad looks like a philosopher tonight, balabalabala, it’s my first time seeing this! But let me tell you, he actually used to be an air force serviceman.” He quickly redirected the DV camera’s screen back to the front where the cake was, as the most important moment had arrived!

Mark Alba looked at Wang Yang with a serious tone, “Yang, you are a good man! I am very reassured to entrust Jessica to you; continue to take good care of my daughter and make her happy.” Just like that Thanksgiving night, Wang Yang met his gaze squarely, his eyes showing no hint of evasion or shyness, nodding and smiling, “I know, I will take care of her for a lifetime.” In front of family and girlfriends, a hint of blush flickered through Jessica’s proud smile.

“That’s good to hear!” Mark Alba’s face was full of contentment, as he looked at his daughter with eyes filled with tender love, calling out, “Jessica.”

Hearing this familiar call, Jessica suddenly became emotional, her eyes welling up slightly, biting her somewhat trembling lips. Mark Alba smiled and said, “My daughter, Dad wishes you eternal happiness and joy, may the Lord be with you!” Kathy silently prayed, “Jessica, Yang, Mom also wishes you everlasting happiness, may the Lord be with you.” Wang Yang’s father and mother, too, silently blessed in their hearts, “Yang, may you and Jessica be forever happy.”

Under everyone’s smiling gazes and blessings, Wang Yang released her hand and took out a red ring box from his pocket, opened it with a click, and took out a silver engagement ring with a very small gemstone, convenient for everyday wear. He looked into her shimmering eyes, felt the deep love emanating from them, smiled and slipped the ring onto her left ring finger, “I love you.”

“I love you,” Jessica said with a shaky voice, completely immersed in that wonderfully joyous sensation, as if she were melting. She felt the ring snug around her finger, it seemed a bit heavy, but that slight weight brought so much peace and happiness.

The couple embraced and gently kissed, while laughter and applause erupted from the tables; Zachary clicked away on his camera, capturing these beautiful moments; Joshua zoomed in the DV’s focus, the scene a few years ago when he followed along and broke the DV came to mind—it was hard to believe these two were getting married! He laughed heartily, “Yang, Jessica, you guys look so cool!!”

Amidst these joyful sounds, Danny excitedly wagged his tail, soon seeing Jessica and Yang holding a knife together, laughing as they cut into the big cake; then they each took a small piece and fed it to each other. Danny licked his tongue, still, some drool fell onto the floor.

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